Suddenly I could feel the whole bridge shaking. The water had risen to an alarming height in just the time it took for us to talk. His truck crossed the ancient bridge and I felt it rumble as I followed. To where? What camp? Was I better off just spending the night at the side of the road? He said “our” camp. He hesitated for a moment, then got back in his truck. “Your-camp?” I repeated, not really understanding. “Then what am I supposed to do?” I asked testily. “I think I’ll stay right here until the morning.” “I’m not going anywhere now.” I wasn’t a very good driver, and my vision wasn’t the greatest at night. You’d have to turn back and go another hour or so.” Do you know where the Little Corners Retreat is?” He looked to be in his early forties and had the kind of face that always seemed to be an inch away from a big smile. “Lady, you can’t stay here,” the man said. I hadn’t seen another vehicle for about an hour. The tap on my window was so unexpected that I nearly jumped out of my skin. I parked the car and waited, though for what, I don’t know.
It seemed to be rising faster as I watched. I inched the car along until I came to a rickety wooden bridge over a fast-moving stream. I hoped they wouldn’t worry about me, because it looked like the best I could do was to find a place off the road and sleep in the car for the night. The girls would be waiting for me in that wilderness retreat, a collection of cabins along a lake where people booked time away from the world. I could try to crawl ahead and maybe reach a town-if there were any nearby. I crumpled the map, threw it into the backseat, and tried my cell phone, but the mountains interfered with the reception. I hoped that wasn’t a message from above telling me how futile my search was, for both this retreat in the woods and my imaginary lover.
The thunder cracked overhead, making me jump. I’d been hoping to confide in my friends and get some serious dating tips. Hah! My life had been totally knight-free for a year. What now? Where was that knight on a white charger when you needed him? I could hardly see a few feet ahead of me on the road. A misty, dull day was now a rainy day, and quickly becoming a torrent. Speaking of rain, the skies were just now opening up. Still, the others seemed to love those trips, so I didn’t want to rain on their parade. If there were any whales out there, I didn’t see any-and I’m sure they didn’t want to see me. I’ve got nothing against whales and I enjoy nature, but I spent every day of that trip throwing up over the edge of the boat. I mean, the last one had been whale-watching. But for once I wish someone would outvote Melanie and pick a more normal place for our semi-annual get-togethers. I really did like getting together with my old college friends. I’d been driving for hours now, and I was getting farther away from any kind of civilization. I’d been looking for the sign that said the town of Maxin was thirty miles away. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried to make sense of Melanie’s map again. Wasn’t it enough to just book a couple of hotel rooms in the city and get together with the four of us old friends? Why did we have to go on this wilderness adventure, especially since the last time I’d done anything like that was when I went camping with my folks when I was seven. Melanie always came up with these great ideas that turned into disasters. This getaway weekend with the girls had been something I’d been dreading. I trusted my friend and she draws a crazy map, one that led me right in the middle of-nowhere! And to make things worse, there were big rain clouds hovering over my little car, a car that wasn’t anything near to being a four-by-four, which was what I needed right now. “Damn you, Melanie!” I cursed and hit the steering wheel for good measure.